MONEY LAUNDERING: aid for solicitors who make reports


The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has launched a special hotline for solicitors and other professionals who are concerned that the confidentiality of their money laundering reports may have been breached.



The hotline will enable lawyers to report confidentiality breaches by law enforcement agencies, and will be used by SOCA as a measure of the number of breaches that are taking place.



The telephone line is the latest in a series of developments designed to protect those who make suspicious activity reports (SARs), which has been lobbied for by the Law Society and other groups.



The Home Office recently issued guidance to police and other agencies warning that it is a disciplinary offence for the confidentiality of SARs to be compromised 'without due cause'. The guidance also requires agencies to consult with solicitors before disclosing SARs in criminal proceedings.



SOCA has also agreed to publish annual statistics about SARs confidentiality breaches, and has introduced special training for financial investigators on the issue.



Robin Booth, chairman of the Law Society's money laundering taskforce, said: 'I would encourage solicitors to use the hotline where there is a breach. Otherwise, SOCA may get a distorted view that everything in the garden is rosy because of the low statistics.'



Alison Matthews, money laundering reporting officer at national firm Irwin Mitchell, said solicitors could be 'reassured' by recent developments. She said: 'The bottom line is that there will always be more work to be done on this, but the right message is coming through from SOCA. It is taking a listening approach.'



The SOCA hotline number is 0800 2346657.



Rachel Rothwell